After an extended hiatus from theater going (the results of being spoiled by private screenings during my time working in the movies), I have begun to attend the movies again in conjunction with my newspaper column. During this time, I have noticed a disturbing and annoying trend. The latest plague spreading throughout the cinema is the use of cell phones.
Apparently, people have forgotten all phone etiquette instilled in them by their mothers once a cell hits hand. While watching “10,000 B.C.” (remember, it was work related), one gentleman (and I am using the term loosely) took the time out of his busy movie watching schedule to answer his phone no less than three times. While the movie was playing! And seeing as we were so interested in his life, he was kind enough to carry on the entire conversation without getting up. But that's not even my biggest complaint. Text messaging has made watching certain movies almost impossible.
The last time I went to my local theater before I began reviewing movies was for “Lady in the Water”. M. Night Shyamalan’s film was hard enough to enjoy in the first place. Little backlit screens turning on and off every 30 seconds throughout the auditorium completely pulls you out of the film and ruins any chance of escape. While I have come to expect this out of films geared toward a certain age group, I'm finding that it is becoming more pervasive. Add to this the fact that many theaters no longer care about the customer and rarely if ever do any auditorium checks. If you find a problem there’s rarely an end in sight.
Short of viewers simply staying home (an intriguing if not likely option), a message needs to be sent to the theater chains that every paying customer should be their priority and that if a viewing experience is not good, there are other alternatives for us. When I managed a movie theater, my crew was diligent about shutting up the talkers, shutting down the cell phones, and providing the best viewing experience possible. It is time for theater ownership to rededicate themselves to the overall experience of going to a film, or risk alienating lifelong customers.
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